July 27, 2023
California Federation of Republican Women
Janet Price, President
Submitted by the CFRW Legislative Analyst Committee
Karen Contreras, Lou Ann Flaherty and Elaine Freeman,
School Book Ban Controversy
The Temecula Valley Unified School District voted unanimously to adopt California’s new social studies book and curriculum during the July 21st meeting after previously rejecting it twice.
The board had objected to the book’s coverage of LGBTQ+ figures in history. Despite agreeing to adopt the curriculum, the board says it will pull any material referencing gay rights activist Harvey Milk, which was one of the main points of contention. After reviewing options, the board said it may consider replacing the text referencing Milk with the biography of another gay rights leader instead.
Governor Newsom said the state would be stepping in if the school board refused to purchase the approved social studies textbooks.
After the policy passed during Friday night’s board meeting, Newsom released a statement saying:
“Fortunately, now students will receive the basic materials needed to learn. But this vote lays bare the true motives of those who opposed this curriculum. This has never been about parents’ rights. It’s not even about Harvey Milk – who appears nowhere in the textbook students receive. This is about extremists’ desire to control information and censor the materials used to teach our children.”
The associated Bill that is in work: Passed the Assembly 05/30/23. Currently in the Senate with amendments. The Bill is very complex but would mandate many restrictive requirements.
AB 1078, Instructional materials and curriculum: diversity.
(1) Existing law, the Safe Place to Learn Act, requires the State Department of Education, as part of its regular monitoring and review of a local educational agency, to assess whether the local educational agency has, among other things, adopted a policy that prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on specified protected characteristics.
This bill would require that policy to include a statement that the policy applies to all acts of the governing board or body of the local educational agency, the superintendent of the school district, and the county superintendent of schools in enacting policies and procedures that govern the local educational agency.
The bill would require the department, as part of its regular monitoring and review of a local educational agency, to also assess whether the local educational agency has complied with state laws requiring public schools to provide pupils with comprehensive, culturally competent, and accurate instruction about the history, experiences, and viewpoints of people from different communities in California. The bill would require the department, no later than July 1, 2025, to develop guidance and public educational materials to ensure that all Californians can access information about educational laws and policies that safeguard the right to an accurate and inclusive curriculum.
(2) Existing law requires, as a condition of receipt of specified funds for instructional materials, the governing board of a school district to take specified actions, including holding a public hearing or hearings and making a determination, through a resolution, as to whether each pupil in each school in the school district has sufficient textbooks and instructional materials aligned to specified content standards.
Upon a determination that there are insufficient textbooks or instructional materials, existing law requires the governing board to take action, as provided, to ensure that each pupil has sufficient textbooks or instructional materials within 2 months of the beginning of the school year in which the determination is made. If the county superintendent determines that a school does not have sufficient textbooks or instructional materials in accordance with this public hearing process, existing law requires the county superintendent to provide the school district with the opportunity to remedy the deficiency.
If the deficiency is not remedied, existing law requires the county superintendent to request the department, with approval by the State Board of Education, to purchase textbooks or instructional materials for the school, as provided.
If a governing board of a school district makes the above-described determination, by resolution, that there are insufficient textbooks or instructional materials, this bill would require the governing board to submit a copy of that resolution to the county superintendent of schools no later than 3 business days after the governing board hearing.
(3) Existing law requires a school district to use its uniform complaint process to help identify and resolve any deficiencies related to, among other things, instructional materials, and to report summarized data on unresolved complaints to the county superintendent of schools. Existing law requires a complaint under these provisions to be filed with the principal of the school or the principal’s designee. Existing law requires the principal or the designee of the district superintendent to make all reasonable efforts to investigate any problem within their authority and to remedy a valid complaint within a reasonable time period, as specified.
Existing law authorizes the complainant to appeal to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and requires the Superintendent to provide a written report to the state board describing the basis for the complaint and, as appropriate, a proposed remedy.
This bill would authorize a complaint regarding the sufficiency of textbooks or instructional materials to be filed directly with the Superintendent. The bill would authorize the Superintendent to directly intervene without waiting for the principal or the designee of the district superintendent to investigate.
(4) Existing law requires the governing board of each local educational agency to either provide for an audit of its books and accounts or make arrangements with the county superintendent to provide for that audit. Existing law requires the auditor’s report to include, among other things, a summary of audit exceptions and requires each county superintendent to review audit exceptions related to, among other things, inventory of equipment and the use of instructional materials program funds.
This bill would require a county superintendent of schools to take a range of actions if the county superintendent determines that there are insufficient textbooks or instructional materials pursuant to (A) the receipt of the above-described resolution related to insufficient textbooks or instructional materials from the governing board of a school district, (B) the receipt of the above-described report of an unresolved complaint related to instructional materials, or (C) the receipt of the above-described report related to an audit exception related to the inventory of equipment and the use of instructional materials program funds, as provided.
The bill would require the county superintendent, upon making this determination, to provide the school district with the opportunity to remedy the deficiency by no later than the 2nd month of the school term. If the deficiency is not remedied, the bill would require the department to purchase textbooks or instructional materials for the school, as specified.
The bill would require the funds necessary for the purchase to be considered a loan to the school district and, unless the loan is repaid based upon an agreed-upon schedule with the Superintendent, would require the Controller to deduct the amount of the loan from the school district’s next principal apportionment or other apportionment of state funds.
This bill would also require, if the deficiency in the provision of textbooks or instructional materials is not remedied, the county superintendent to prominently post a notice that the school district failed to provide pupils with sufficient textbooks or instructional materials on the homepage of the internet website of the county office of education. The bill would require the county superintendent to provide a copy of this notice to the district superintendent and the governing board of the school district, who would be required to prominently post the notice on the homepage of the internet website of the school district.
If the governing board fails to take action to remedy the deficiency before the end of the 8th week of the school term, the bill would require these notices to prominently include the names of the individual members of the governing board of the school district.
(5) Existing law establishes a public school financing system that requires state funding for school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to be calculated pursuant to a local control funding formula, as specified.
This bill would reduce a school district’s local control funding formula allocation by a specified amount if the Superintendent determines the school district has not provided sufficient textbooks or instructional materials pursuant to these provisions.
(6) Existing law requires instruction in social sciences to include a study of the role and contributions of men and women and culturally and racially diverse groups, including, among others, Mexican Americans and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, and members of other ethnic and cultural groups.
This bill would revise the list of the above-described groups to instead require instruction in social sciences to include a study of the role and contributions of, among others, people of all genders, Latino Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans, and members of other ethnic, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic status groups.
(7) Existing law prescribes substantive requirements and particular processes that the State Board of Education, the Instructional Quality Commission, local educational agencies, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction are required to follow when adopting or evaluating instructional materials, as defined.
Existing law requires governing boards of school districts, when adopting instructional materials for use in the schools, to include materials that accurately portray the cultural and racial diversity of our society, including the contributions of both men and women and the role and contributions of culturally and racially diverse groups, including, among others, Mexican Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, and members of other ethnic and cultural groups.
Existing law requires the state board to comply with those requirements related to the accurate portrayal of cultural and racial diversity when reviewing and adopting or recommending for adoption submitted basic instructional materials. Existing law also requires the governing board of each school district maintaining one or more high schools to comply with those requirements related to the accurate portrayal of racial and cultural diversity when adopting instructional materials for use in the high schools under its control.
This bill would revise the list of the above-described culturally and racially diverse groups to instead include materials that accurately portray the contributions of people of all genders and the role and contributions of Latino Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans, and other ethnic, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic status groups. The bill would require the department department, no later than July 1, 2025, to issue guidance related to how to help school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and school personnel manage conversations about race and gender, and how to review instructional materials to ensure that they represent diverse perspectives and are culturally relevant.
The bill would prohibit the governing board of a school district or a county board of education from prohibiting the use of an existing textbook, other instructional material, or curriculum that contains inclusive and diverse perspectives. The bill would prohibit the governing board of a school district or a county board of education from prohibiting the use of an existing textbook, other instructional material, or curriculum for any other reason unless the removal is approved by a 2/3 vote of the governing board.
(8) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(9) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
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